Don't forget Meet & Greet Tuesday! Also, a call for Volunteers

Just a reminder that Lucas will hold its Meet & Greet and "Popsicles with the Principal" from 12 to 1 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 17. This is a great chance to meet your child's teachers, visit classrooms, pay your child's lunch money in advance, learn more about the Lucas PTO and dad's group, Dads Engaged in Engineering Dreams (DEED, find out about special activities and volunteer opportunities and have a popsicle with our new principal, Julia Burton.

Speaking of volunteers, Heather Lowry is still in need of two volunteers to help Lucas t-shirts during both periods of the Meet & Greet. If you can help from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and/or 3:45 to 5:45 p.m., please let her know right away! You can reach Heather at 351-3074, or by email at chlowry@mchsi.com.

See you Tuesday!

Hy-Vee school supply donations featured in Press-Citizen

Hy-Vee helps out: Donations gets students ready for school

Emily Schettler • Iowa City Press-Citizen • August 11, 2010

A full book bag of supplies will be standard issue for each Lucas Elementary student when school resumes next week.

Employees from the Hy-Vee grocery store at 812 S. First Ave. dropped off four large boxes of school supplies at the school Tuesday. The store collected the supplies for the children as a part of its annual Million Stem Rose Sale.

Lucas Elementary Principal Julia Burton said the donation of backpacks, crayons, notebooks and folders will make a big difference for students when they return for classes Aug. 19.

"These donations are critical," Burton said. "We have a lot of new families moving to Iowa City, and school supplies are expensive."

Full Story...

Deadline for buying Kernels tickets extended!

The Lucas dads group, DEED, has gotten an extension to sell discounted tickets for Lucas School Day at the Cedar Rapids Kernels Game.

Lucas families now have until next Tuesday, August 17, to buy tickets -- at $6.50 apiece -- for the Sunday, August 22, game in Cedar Rapids. You can buy tickets two ways: by contacting PTO DEED Chair Joe Bell or, in person, at the Lucas Meet & Greet, which runs from noon to 1 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday.

The tickets can be picked up at a special DEED table outside the gates of Veterans Memorial Stadium ahead of the game on August 22. Gates open at 1:05 p.m., and the first pitch is 2:05 p.m.

More information about this fun event can be found here.

Meet your 2010-11 Lucas PTO Board!

A big Mighty Hawk welcome to all the volunteers who have agreed to fill important chair positions on the Lucas PTO for 2010-11! All the great things PTO does throughout the year wouldn't be possible without great volunteers like these. So if you see one of these folks at a school event, or in the hallways at Lucas, or out in the community, please be sure to tell them "thanks" for helping make Lucas Elementary School such a vibrant, inviting and successful place to learn.

And for other parents or Lucas staff who are interested in helping out with PTO, don't hesitate to ask! We don't imagine any of our chairs would turn down some additional help.

PTO Board Members (2010-11)

Basket Auction: Ashley Cahoon
Basket Auction: Cathy Fehr
Big G Labels: Mara Goodvin
Campbell’s Soup Labels & Swiss Valley Milk Caps: Brooke Hill
Can Recycling Drive: Michelle Bacon-Curry
Can Recycling Drive: Nancy Cassady
Can Recycling Drive: Amy Greazel
City High Homecoming Parade: Joe Bell
Co-President: Melinda Pradarelli
Co-President: Stephen Pradarelli
Coin Drive: Brooke Hill
DEED Rep: Joe Bell
DPO: Michelle Bacon-Curry
Free Family Night Events: Leslie Veit
Free Family Night Events: Andy Veit
Fun Night: Amy Greazel
Fun Night: Sarah Holmes
Fundraising–Pizza Hut: Joelle Dickerson
Fundraising-Pizza Hut: Carol Greve
Fundraising–SCRIP: VACANT      
Fundraising--T-shirts: Heather Lowry
Fundraising-Fall: Brooke Hill
Hospitality: Ana McComas
Hospitality: Ashley Cahoon
Hospitality: Emily Spellman
Kernel’s Game/Lucas Night at the Ballpark: Joe Bell
Lucas Day at Iowa Women’s Bball Game: Joe Bell
Membership/Publicity: Cathy Fehr
Movie Night: Joe Bell
Newsletter: Emily Spellman
Past President: Lisa Ringen
Pre-packaged School Supply Kits: Carol Greve
President-Elect: VACANT
Principal: Julia Burton
Room Parent Coordinator: Heather Roth
Safety/Playground: Carol McDonough
Secretary: Renee Speh
Teacher Rep: Ann Kessler
Teacher Rep: Mindy Wieland
Teacher Rep: Tres Brown
Teacher Rep: Laurie Martin
Treasurer: Ruthina West
Volunteer Coordinator: Heather Roth
Yearbook: Emily Spellman

Buy tickets for Lucas School Day at Kernels Game now!

Time is running short to buy advance tickets for Lucas School Day at the Cedar Rapids Kernels Game on Sunday, August 22!

To receive the special Lucas discount of $6.50 per ticket, tickets must be purchased by Friday, August 13. Send a note with your name, contact information and the number of tickets you want to purchase, along with a check for the exact amount made out to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Then mail it to Joe Bell at 5 Dunuggan Ct., Iowa City, IA 52240-2831. Or contact Joe at 354-2281 or jk.bell@mchsi.com to make other arrangements or ask questions.

The tickets can be picked up at a special DEED table outside the gates of Veterans Memorial Stadium ahead of the game on August 22. Gates open at 1:05 p.m., and the first pitch is 2:05 p.m.

The event is being organized by Lucas Dads Engaged in Engineering Dreams (DEED) and is open to anyone in the Lucas community. Lucas students will get special recognition and call-outs as part of Lucas School Day.

Additionally, August 22 is Sunday Family Day, which means fans can get autographs from the Kernels on the concourse prior to the game and kids can run the bases and play catch in the outfield after the game. Meet Cinderella, Snow White and others, presented by Glass Slipper Entertainment, and enjoy the balloon artistry of Papa Balloon on the main concourse

Cast votes to win Lucas Elementary $500,000 through Kohl’s Facebook contest

Kohl’s Cares, a philanthropic subsidiary of Kohl’s Department Stores, is holding a contest to see which 20 public K-12 schools in the United States will win $500,000.

The competition – which can be accessed at http://apps.facebook.com/KohlsCares/ -- gives Facebook users a chance to cast up to 20 votes on behalf of their favorite schools: a maximum of five votes can be cast for one school. So after casting your first five votes for Lucas (make sure you pick the one in Iowa City! There are several in the U.S.), consider using your other votes for Southeast Junior High, City High, or any other public school of your choice.

The contest began July 7 and ends September 3. Winning schools will be announced in September, based on the total number of votes cast for them.

Through its community giving and volunteer program, Kohl’s Cares support kids' health and education, environmental initiatives and women's health. Its vision is a future where kids are healthy, resources are plentiful and breast cancer is a thing of the past. More information about Kohl’s Cares can be found at http://www.kohlscorporation.com/communityrelations/community01.htm.

Please note that Lucas PTO’s sharing of this information should not be considered an endorsement of the contest. We encourage anyone considering entering contests like these to do so at their own discretion.

PTO meeting schedule set for 2010-11

The PTO meeting schedule has been set for the 2010-11 school year. Please note that the meetings have been changed this year from Tuesday nights to Monday nights so they don't conflict with meetings of the Iowa City School Board. But they're still held at 7 p.m. in the Lucas Art Room. And childcare will be provided at ALL meetings. So please join us if you can!

Here are the dates:

September 13
October 11
November 8
January 10
February 14
March 14: PTO Meeting, 7 p.m.  (Whoops! We realized this falls during spring break. We'll reschedule this meeting soon.)
April 11
May 9